Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-11-01

IELTS Writing Task 1 question

The plans below show a college cafe before it was redesigned and how it looks now.

Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.

The plans below show a college cafe before it was redesigned and how it looks now.

Student answer (Band 5.5)

The plan illustrates a college cafe before it was redesigned and how it looks now.

Overall, the map shows cafe designing before and today. before college cafe contains indoor services which include a kitchen and inside a serving area for all food and drink. Whereas, today's cafe provide outdoor services with barbecue and sitting area, also serves salad and coffee.

First of all, cafe before redesigned contains mimimum services as campared to today's cafe. At the entrance, at straight to cafe there was two staff dinning rooms, which was changed and replaced by take away foods and coffee bar. Moreover, before cafe there was kitchen with serving area provides all food and drink. But now kitchen just provide hot meals. However, after entrance now there are recycling bins instead of bin.

Furthermore, now cafe provides an additional bar which is salad bar front to the kitchen area. Moreover, before cafe there was sitting area includes chairs and tables indoor, now the cafe also provides outdoor services with sitting area and outdoor barbecue. However, the cafe's toilets reamin same.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0

You cover the main transformation and give an overview contrasting the earlier indoor facilities with the new outdoor seating and barbecue, while noting that the toilets remain unchanged. You also report several accurate changes: the staff dining rooms become a takeaway-food area and coffee bar, the serving counter is now for hot meals, and the bin is replaced by recycling bins. However, some details are unclear or incomplete. The kitchen did not simply “provide hot meals”; the counter beside it is labelled “Hot meals.” The new doors in the south wall and the four outdoor tables are not mentioned, and “an additional bar” is imprecise for the salad bar along the western wall. More precise location and feature reporting would make the comparison fuller.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response has a clear overall shape: an introduction, an overview, and two paragraphs describing changes. Sequencing phrases such as “First of all” and “Furthermore” help signal progression, and the comparison between the old and current layouts is generally easy to follow. However, some linking is mechanical or awkward, particularly the repeated “Moreover” and “However,” and the contrast introduced by “Whereas” is not integrated into a complete sentence. References such as “at straight to cafe” and “front to the kitchen area” make spatial relationships difficult to follow. Grouping changes by area—for example, north wall, western wall, and outdoor space—and using clearer references would improve cohesion.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.5

You use relevant vocabulary for describing a plan, including “serving area,” “staff dining rooms,” “recycling bins,” and “outdoor seating.” This gives you an adequate range to communicate the main changes. However, several word choices and collocations are inaccurate or unnatural, such as “cafe designing,” “minimum services,” “sitting area,” and “additional bar.” There are also spelling errors, including “campared,” “dinning,” and “remain,” which reduce precision. Use standard labels from the plan where possible, and choose more exact terms such as “facilities,” “seating area,” and “salad bar.” Greater accuracy in spelling and collocation would make the description more fluent and precise.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple and more complex sentences, including a contrast with “Whereas” and a relative clause in “sitting area includes chairs and tables.” The main message is usually understandable, but some grammatical errors recur and occasionally make relationships unclear. For example, “today’s cafe provide” has subject–verb disagreement, while “before cafe there was kitchen” is missing articles. The sentence beginning “Whereas, today’s cafe…” is a fragment, and “At the entrance, at straight to cafe there was two…” has an unclear structure and incorrect agreement. Tense and sentence boundaries also need attention. Practise complete comparisons, consistent past and present forms, and accurate articles and agreement.

See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.